Rehabilitation Engineering

Rehabilitation engineering is the systematic application of engineering sciences to design, develop, adapt, test, evaluate, apply, and distribute technological solutions to problems confronted by individuals with disabilities. Functional areas addressed through rehabilitation engineering may include mobility, communications, hearing, vision, and cognition, and activities associated with employment, independent living, education, and integration into the community. While some rehabilitation engineers have master’s degrees in rehabilitation engineering, usually a subspecialty of biomedical engineering, most rehabilitation engineers have undergraduate or graduate degrees in biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering, or electrical engineering. A Portuguese university provides an undergraduate degree in Accessibility and Rehabilitation Engineering. The rehabilitation process for people with disabilities often entails the design of assistive devices intended to promote inclusion of their users into the mainstream of society, commerce, and recreation.